Future of the Amiga

[Lando]

Aros does seem to be getting stronger all the time.  It certainly has a much stronger following now than it did a year ago.  I have downloaded the Aros Max LiveCD and played with it a few times on my laptop, but since Amiga software won't run on it, that massively limits it's usefulness.  It is a new platform in itself as opposed to MorphOS or AmigaOS4 which both have varying degrees of built-in 68k and PPC binary compatibility.

Personally I'm still hoping MorphOS gets the success it deserves.  Technologically, it is still the most advanced of any of the other alternatives.  It is an incredible piece of work from some of the most talented and knowledgable people in the Amiga's recent history.

Realistically, though, I think the future of the Amiga is in a brand for selling PDA games and 30-somethings playing SWOS and Lemmings in UAE for nostalgia. :-)

[redrumloa]

Lando wrote:
Realistically, though, I think the future of the Amiga is in a brand for selling PDA games

Groan..

[_ThEcRoW]

@CLS2086

Are you saying Aros is a emulator? :-o  An emulator is E-UAE or winuae, but Aros is an Operating System.
Maybe you have made a mistake and post on the wrong forum.
Back on topic, i personally think that the only amiga-related os that has a future is Aros, because os4 has his hardware probs, and pegs while hardware available and better than the A1, has many things to do for catching x86 horsepower.

[Heinz]

Piru wrote:
Sadly AROS suffers from the decision of not maintaining binary compatibility, nor having a m68k emulation integrated from the start. This means that no existing amiga software can run, except under UAE (and no, it is not trivial to integrate UAE to AROS).

I think, that not having binary compatibility is not as important today as it has been some years before.
The most of the 68k Software is more than 10 years out of development and for todays needs, it is next to useless now.

The majority of the Software that is still under development today should'nt be to hard to port to Aros.
Some title are already ported, or on the way (Hollywood, frying pan).

Even though amiga software is really old and mostly outdated, it still beats having no software at all (or having even more crippled replacement).

That's true for now, but there are hopeful signs, that the AROS Software Situation may look different in one or two years, since more and more developers become interested in AROS.

[yogisumo]

Doppie1200 wrote:
I'd say the future lays in hobbyism because there is no gap to fill in the computer industry....

Ok. Just don't tell Microsoft, Apple, IBM, or Google.  If they smell anything that impacts market share and profits it will be found and killed or assimilated ...

My 2 cents.  A portable handheld with built in camera and mic that has the capability to be plugged into a monitor and keyboard at home (running the next gen Amiga OS of course).  I guess that's the way the computing world is going anyway.  A hybrid of a computer and phone/pda.  The camera would keep the Amiga true to its multimedia heritage.  Automatic and seamless movement from portablity to desktop use.  The real line between portable and home computing would be erased and  it would simply become a matter of context.  When connected to different peripherals ( big monitor, etc ) the experience would scale.
  As a musician or videographer you could take your entire system/projects with you and move between locations ( ie home <-> gig ).  A portable&dockable Amiga "video&still camera/midi&audio/phone/internet personal computer"!!!

[x56h34]

The future of Amiga will be all about playing around/tinkering with classic C=Amiga hardware/OS, as well as any current or upcoming neo hardware/OS. To expect anything more than that would be quite insane, IMHO. :-)

[itix]

The majority of the Software that is still under development today should'nt be to hard to port to Aros.

That is if you have the source code and you dont get killed by endianess bugs and doesnt have 68k asm. Or doesnt depend on closed source 68k libraries and classes...

[T_Bone]

CLS2086 wrote:
ImageFx run faster on Peg2 than on X86

You mean compared to x86 under 68k emulation or x86 native?

[zylesea]

@ redrumloa

> So, what is the future of the Amiga? What does the crystal ball show?

I guess Hobby and retro.
MorphOS may still have a limited chance in some embedded sectors. Principally the same might hold true for OS4 and AROS, but I see most chances with MOS.
OS4 is quite dead, since there is no hw available (the announcemnts are very vapouresque), AROS is not bad, but lacks many things, most important the backwards compatibility.

In the retro world there is still some potential, but that is not of my personal interest. I like fast maschines. I'll continue with MorphOS.

[JetFireDX]

As always with these type of threads, my vote still goes to AROS.

I know there are a bunch (small bunch) of people who use their A1s with the OS4 pre-release and Peg users out there who are quite happy. I also know that there are a lot of people who are happy playing with their classics too, but for whom (either by availability, cost, etc...) neither of those solutions is viable. This leaves AROS.

Some people are probably like me, got stuck in Windows land for a while before moving to a Mac or Linux, or just went straight to Linux after their Amiga time and are happy there. I wasn't happy with Windows and I wasn't / still am not happy with Linux. Even my Mac as much as I think it kicks ass, still leaves me wanting an Amiga like system. They all work but there is something missing to the overall design and feel of the system. Simplicity perhaps? Elegance (or what I perceive as a more elegant solution...) This is where I think AROS has the most potential - former users or people who are looking for something lighter, faster, and tighter in general than Linux. My install of FedoraCore 4 on my PC runs well enough, but I admit it gets less use than UAE on my Mac. Why? There just isn't that much compelling for me to do in Linux. Everything I can do there I can do faster and easier on the Mac...I still enjoy tinkering with Linux but there are times when I just turn away from it and leave it off for a couple weeks when something ticks me off or I get sick of having to deal with the bloat and dependancies to install anything that wasn't targeted specifically to my kernel/desktop/blah blah blah with a package. On the flip side, my Mac doesn't offer me the freedom to tinker as much as I like to but has been rock solid for me.

I watch AROS daily for changes, news, new apps. I come to Amiga.org daily to see if there is any news on the OS4 / Morph fronts. Of any of them, I think AROS has the most news to report throughout the year. I got sick of hoping, praying, begging for something to be done right with Amiga since Commodore as I know most everybody else has.

The reasons for AROS existing are the same for any other alternative OS...there are people out there who know things could be done better/simpler/faster/challeng of doing it... take your pick. Same goes for SkyOS, ReactOS (Do windows better than windows?),etc... Progress may be slow, but I think its moving faster than the alternative "Amiga" choices.

GO AROS GO!

[Tigger]

itix wrote:
 you dont get killed by endianess bugs and doesnt have 68k asm. Or doesnt depend on closed source 68k libraries and classes...

The only one scared of endianess is Benji, and he can't write any code, so I'm not sure why you guys take a law clerks point of view on the matter anyways.  ImageFX has lots of endianess issues and yet miraculously big chunks of it were converted for plugins for Aura and Photoshop.  How was this accomplished.  According to Benji, magic, according to those of us who did it, simple coding practices, the same things I do 50% of the time we change a hardware platform for our embedded systems.   Its not Rocket Science, I've done Rocket Science, this aint near that hard.
    -Tig

[itix]

@Tigger

If you ported ImageFx to AROS that easily I can only agree.

[Belial6]

Like most others, I see AROS as the future Amiga.  The things that I think would give it the biggest interst boom would be:

1) Define a reference platform.  For example a Via board.  I'm not saying there shouldn't be drivers for other hadware, but it would help to be able to say X hardware will run AROS.

2) E-UAE.  The better it is and the more integrated it is the better.  Perhaps a E-UAE package system, so you just add your ADF to the pre built package and away you go.

3) Office suite.  Actually just a word processor and spread sheet.

4) Web Browser (e.g. Firefox)

5) A TV mode.  What I mean by this is have IR software, and allow the system to be booted in such a way that you can boot directly to a gamepad/Remote controlled UI.  This is sort of done with MythTV, but since Linux is where it is, MythTV and the remote control software is a patch at this point.

I know that AROS is unlikely to ever have the kinds of games that XBox or Playstation have, but there are a lot of people that would love to be able to turn on their system, use their controller to pick a game, and sit and play a 2D puzzle, platform or shooter on their TV.

The one niche that has not been filled is what the old C-64 had.  A programmable game system.  

[B00tDisk]

If the Amiga had (and that's the operative word here, "had") a future, it was in it dying a healthy death after C='s bankruptcy and ending up as a wholly emulated platform or as a pure hobbyist's box like the C= 8-bit scene.

Fact is, the fanatics, the "religious zealots" who even now make claims from Bizzaro World about the Amiga, what it can do, what it's going to do, not to mention the runaway infighting between two camps of people (about 1000 each) devoted to their overlords (both of whom are, oddly, named "Bill") make the Amiga a laughingstock.

"Amiga Persecution Syndrome" and the passive/aggressive...well, no, check that, just the plain old aggressive attitude of Amiga users keep the Amiga from being a fun hobby.  The ones who still think the Amiga is poised to take over the computing world  :crazy:  and yet refuse to apprehend that the Amiga's operating system has miles to go before it can even be considered a contender amongst dark horses like BeOS (or whatever it's called these days) pretty much ruin things for anyone interested in seeing the Amiga make some headway.

Look, the Amiga, as a viable commercial entity is DEAD DEAD DEAD.  But then so's the C64.  So's the Spectrum.  So are Apple 8-Bit systems.  So's the Atari ST line.  Yet all of those communities flourish and are enjoyable to look over.  Nobody in those communities has delusions that they're going to topple Microsoft in "two more weeks" and it'll be "B-I-G!".  Consequently they're more fun to watch and participate in.

If the Amiga has a future it's without the zealots, who quite frankly need to go off and find something else to prostelytize about.

[Plaz]

/humor on
My next "Amiga" is going to be a PS3. Don't bother me with all the details that have been discused before. I'm going to spend my $$$ on the next Sony, play some cool games and wait for a port of AROS to show up for PS3. I may be waiting a long time, but I'll be waiting while playing several cool on-line games and it's not like I'm not used to "2 more weeks" by now.
/humor off

No wait, I guess I wan't joking after all.

Plaz

[uncharted]

@B00tDisk

I think you're spot on.  What was needed was for one of the various owners to say, "Right that is it Amiga is dead, no more.  No licences, no IP sales. It's over, go out there and enjoy the sunshine"

Perhaps then everyone would have stopped waiting about for the next miracle and would have taken control over the platform themselves.  There probably would have been splits and wars (there always is) but it probably would not have been as bad as what has been endured.  Something like AROS would have flourished in such an environment.

I still think that there was enough momentum and market back in the late 90's (even as late as 2000 possibly) for there to be a sustainable platform.  All that was needed was a little focus.
 

B00tDisk wrote:
If the Amiga has a future it's without the zealots, who quite frankly need to go off and find something else to prostelytize about.

Is there anyone else left though?  If feels sometimes that the biggest proportion of the community are complete saddos. :-(